


Grown on Me

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Banter, Crimson Flower Route, Crushes, Developing Relationship, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, First Kiss, Fluff, Hubert having feelings, Linhardt actually putting in effort, M/M, Mention of canon-typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28388349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Most people expect their first kiss to be A Big Deal, full of feelings and rapid heartbeats. Hubert expects the opposite.The first thing happens.
Relationships: Linhardt von Hevring/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22
Collections: FE3H Kink Meme





	Grown on Me

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Hubert gets his first kiss and expects to be impassive and stoic but is in fact VERY flustered about it.
> 
> I would prefer Not Ferdibert, but anyone else is fine.
> 
> Bonus points if it's post-timeskip and he's STILL never kissed anyone. 24 years old and still a total virgin who has never held hands, anything.

The fact that Hubert had never been kissed was neither a known fact nor a secret shame. It was simply as much a part of him as the color of his hair or his impeccable ability with dark magic. Never in his life had he felt the need for such trivialities, not when he must focus on serving and assisting Lady Edelgard in destroying the current status quo as well as those who slither in the dark. For years, he cared for little else.

Then the professor chose to walk with Lady Edelgard that day, the rest of the Black Eagles following suit. Whether they merely wished to stay close to the professor or truly believed in Lady Edelgard was still unclear, but the fact that they have remained for the last five years said enough.

So little by little, he let himself start to care for the others. Particularly, a certain lazy, self-centered healer who often surprised him by doing something incredibly selfless that required _effort._ Or even more shocking, following Hubert into the thick of battle despite his fear of blood.

"It wouldn't do us any good if you died out there. What would Lady Edelgard say?" Linhardt would say each time he patched up his wounds, or warped him to safety if the enemy was about to get the upper hand. Twice, this had almost led to Linhardt himself being skewered or sliced, with only the timely intervention of their professor or Caspar to save his life. The next day, Linhardt would go back to his usual three-hour naps followed by spending the rest of the day in the library, grumbling at anyone who asked him to come to meetings or training sessions.

Hubert had once thought Lady Edelgard was the only person he could feel any affection for, but Linhardt was proving him wrong. He couldn't understand it, nor did he care to, all he knew was that Linhardt von Hevring somehow managed to surprise him, irritate him, and make him want to smile all at once.

It was getting dark. Everyone else was getting ready to turn in for the night, but Hubert stopped by the library because he knew Linhardt would still be there. He'd either fallen asleep by now, or he was still awake with his nose in a book dissecting every letter of a sentence of some obscure fact about a Crest stone. Unsurprisingly, it was the former, and when Linhardt slept nothing short of a wyvern's shriek could awaken him.

 _But since I lack a wyvern, I'll have to settle for something else._ Hubert reached down to pull away the book Linhardt was using as a pillow. Surprisingly, he succeeded, and somehow Linhardt woke up before his head came crashing down on the table.

"Hey..." He groaned. "I was gonna get back to it in a few minutes."

"How long ago did you open the book?" Hubert asked. Linhardt blushed, rubbing the back of his neck and stretching.

"Three hours ago, give or take? I remember Bernadetta bringing me food so I wouldn't starve to death, finishing the last book, eating, opening this one..." He trailed off. Hubert remembered stopping by the library that morning to find something for Lady Edelgard, and seeing Linhardt with a large stack of books. Half of them sat on the floor by his feet now.

"You should give some serious thought to better managing your schedule," he chided. "Good thing you woke up when you did, or I would have had to carry you."

"Really." Linhardt chuckled. "Perhaps I should have stayed asleep, then." Hubert gave him a sharp look before gently tugging his arm and pulling him out of his chair. "Hey-"

"Allow me to escort you to your room," he said. "Just to ensure you don't drop down and fall asleep in the hallways or on the stairs." Linhardt smiled wryly.

"Such a gentleman."

"I'm thinking of the liability you pose for others should you do such a thing. If Lady Edelgard were to trip or step on you..." _Either she would be injured or you would, and I don't like that neither one sounds appealing._ It was still so foreign, to have such concern for a person other than the woman he'd devoted his life to since childhood.

The walk towards the dorms was relatively silent, but judging by Linhardt's expression he'd found something good within all those books. He debated asking just what it was he'd found, but if it was something that could aid Lady Edelgard or the Black Eagle Strike Force, Hubert didn't want the unfair advantage of knowing first. There were worse things in the world than curiosity, after all.

"Thanks for coming to get me," Linhardt said at length. "Not that I would have minded sleeping in the library, of course, I've done it before. But...it is nice, to know you care." He chuckled. "And don't pretend otherwise, either, we can all tell how much you've-"

"If you say _softened_ or anything close to it, I'm dragging you to a graveyard and leaving you to find your way back," Hubert said sharply. Linhardt shivered.

"I take it back. You haven't changed that much."

They reached Linhardt's room, and for some reason Linhardt thought it was a good idea to invite him in. For a moment, Hubert expected Linhardt to start telling him about his fascinating discoveries after all. _That isn't fair to Lady Edelgard, I shouldn't be the first one to know._ But he'd just barely opened his mouth to protest the expected revelation when he felt warm, slightly dry lips against his.

_Oh._

He'd begun to suspect he didn't know Linhardt as well as he believed, but brushed it off. Some people simply didn't change beyond the biology of aging, perhaps a bit of situational adaptations. Unless Linhardt had always been more forward than Hubert assumed he was.

Of course, all of this paled in comparison to the realization that _Linhardt was kissing him._ No, that he, Hubert von Vestra, was _being kissed._

He'd always expected that if this moment came, he wouldn't care. It was a kiss, a practiced and performative gesture of affection between couples out of obligation or hormones or the desire to irritate those nearby with such public displays. He scoffed at those who thought a First Kiss was such a life-changing event, as though putting your mouth against another person's could alter who you were.

But Linhardt was kissing him and his face was burning and he was frozen in shock, unable to kiss back because _he didn't know how._ Embarrassing wasn't enough to describe it, more like he wished the floor would drop out from under and take him with it.

By the time he was able to move, his attempt to return the kiss was clumsy and sloppy and it was a relief when Linhardt pulled away. Hubert stepped back, his lips tingling and his cheeks aflame and his heart pounding.

"You..."

"I know, I'm usually not that forward. But I'd been looking for an excuse to do that for a while, and here it was." Hubert touched his lips, trying to find his voice.

"Dare I ask how long you've been waiting for such an excuse?" he ventured. Linhardt shrugged.

"Long enough."

"I see." Hubert lowered his hand, his face still aflame, and silence choked the air. _My first kiss_ reverberated through his head. Part of him wanted to protest that he'd always wanted it to be Lady Edelgard, wondered what she would think if she saw her cold-blooded, overly logical servant looking so discombobulated over _Linhardt_ of all people. What if she teased him?

Or worse...what if she thought it was _cute?_ As much as he cherished and respected Lady Edelgard, it was too embarrassing to imagine her offering a Dorothea-esque cat smile as she congratulated Linhardt on his "nice catch." _No, she would never talk like that. But..._

But Linhardt had kissed him, he'd felt something intense, and he wanted it to happen again. He _liked_ that it had meant something, and he was _relieved_ that Linhardt had been _wanting_ to kiss him.

"Sorry if that was too much for you," Linhardt finally said. "I mean, if you want, we can forget it ever-"

"No." Hubert shook his head. "No, I...listen, what I'm about to tell you is absolutely confidential. Breathe a word of it to anyone-"

"It was your first kiss," Linhardt cut him off. "The way you froze up and got all panicky, I could tell. And don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Good." Hubert managed a little smile. "Because...I did enjoy that. And I wouldn't object to it happening again in the future." Now Linhardt was turning bright red.

"Really? I mean...does that mean you..."

"I like you." It was the first time Hubert had ever outright said those words to anyone, even the professor he'd warmed up to after she'd chosen to walk with Lady Edelgard. "You've truly grown on me." Linhardt smiled.

"I like you, too," he said. "So...is it too soon to ask if I can kiss you again?"

"Don't you have studying to catch up on?" Hubert asked, almost teasing. Linhardt chuckled.

"For once, the books can wait."

This time when he brought their lips together, Hubert responded instantly.


End file.
